Not buying the new conventional wisdom

[struggle4progress]

By Jennifer Rubin
September 11 at 10:30 AM

... President Trump is not an “independent,” as right-wing Republicans now .. to believe ... Trump ran for the GOP nomination, captured the party and now hypes every bad idea that the party’s most extreme elements have espoused — tax cuts for the rich, anti-immigrant hysteria, fear-mongering on crime, know-nothingism on climate change, anti-government animus, and bigotry toward the LGBT community ... Much as Republicans might like to disown him, they cannot. They remain responsible for nominating the most unfit person ever to hold the office.

Between conservatives miffed about the debt ceiling and journalists pining for a "Trump surprised the political establishment" story line .. one would think Trump thought his deal out in advance and had a carefully constructed plan to reorganize the two-party system. From everything we know — including accounts from aides who discussed the game plan before the meeting — Trump acted on the spur of the moment, on impulse out of personal pique ... A new, "more presidential" Trump .. did not emerge last week; the same narcissistic personality who puts his own "winning" above any other concern simply reappeared ...

Republicans backed an erratic, unstable man for president who cares only about his own wealth and glory. Now that they cannot cope with the political monster they created, they prefer to write him off as an independent? No way. Trump’s on you, Republicans.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/09/11/im-not-buying-the-new-conventional-wisdom-about-trump/?utm_term=.5b0aae1a8fca

[Me.]

1. Yes He Is !

[Angry Dragon]

2. Trump is a Trump Party member

I agree the republicans own him but at the same time Trump is working for himself and his family and no one else.

[mgardener]

12. Doesn't matter.

He ran as a Republican, nominated by Republican and was claimed by republicans.
They have eyes and ears just like Democrats who saw trump for what he truly is. They didn't care.
They wanted him, they are stuck with him.

[Angry Dragon]

15. and that is what I said

[WinkyDink]

18. Funny; all while pushing Right-Wing policy. Mnuchin, Mulvaney, DeVos, .....

[Angry Dragon]

19. and he believes they will push policies that will make him richer

bottom line ......... the repubs own him but he does not care about them

[dottie66]

22. Trump is too lazy to

form his own political policies so after inauguration he went along with the GOP congressional policies. He didn't care, as long as it's a "win" for him.

[Angry Dragon]

25. true

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Trump is the culmination of 40 years of GOP effort. Republicans own him lock stock & barrel. . . nt

[Expecting Rain]

4. Splitting Trump from the GOP...

increases the chances they support impeachment when Mueller's finding are released.

Trump clearly is "'an erratic, unstable man" and the sooner he goes the better. This position leaves neither Trump or the Republicans off the hook for embracing right-wing extremism.

Pox on both of them.

[DownriverDem]

7. Except

What about the repub base that is the 30%+ who supports trump? They will be PO'd if trump is impeached.

[Expecting Rain]

10. There would be a base of Trump supporters...

who'd be mightily pissed off at the GOP if Trump were impeached and convicted with their support (or partial support).

That would be an outcome this Democrat would call a "win-win."

[yallerdawg]

5. In the first paragraph, she SPELLS OUT the Republican agenda!

"...tax cuts for the rich, anti-immigrant hysteria, fear-mongering on crime, know-nothingism on climate change, anti-government animus, and bigotry toward the LGBT community (hence the totally unnecessary ban on transgender recruits to the military). Much as Republicans might like to disown him, they cannot."

They can't disown him, since THIS IS WHO THEY ARE!

What McConnell and Ryan were just handed was the consequences of what the Trump administration has been telling them would be a good idea.

Change the Senate rules to 50 votes and pass Republican legislation - or see what happens!

[uponit7771]

20. +1

[DownriverDem]

6. What trump wants

In reality, trump just wants good press & a win. It doesn't matter to him how he gets it as we have just seen with him working with Chuck and Nancy. If anything, no side should trust him.

[jmowreader]

8. Anyone who thinks the RW is leveling doesn't know the RW

An elected official cares about five things, in this order:

Thing 1: his or her seat
Thing 2: his or her donors
Thing 3: his or her party
Thing 4: his or her constituents
Thing 5: the good of the country

There are VERY few officials who will break from that sequence.

Keep in mind that The Seat overrides all else.

By proclaiming Mr. Republican over there to be an "independent," they can decouple their campaigns from Trump. If they don't...well, we could very well flip both houses. We only need three Senate seats to do it.

[jl_theprofessor]

9. Is he a conservative?

Will he happily back most Republican policies?

That's all I need to know about him. Nothing has truly surprised me about him so far, except that he's a little more erratic than I thought he would be.

[aquamarina]

11. Repukes. Own. Him.

He ran as one of theirs. His hateful policies reflect their hate. If he veers off their reservation every once in a while that dementia is theirs too. He. Is. Theirs.

[GoCubsGo]

13. It's like watching a horrific version of "Young Frankenstein."

They put Abby Normal's brain into the body, and now they have a monster--who controls the nuclear codes.

"Please, I beg you! For safety's sake, don't humiliate him!"

[HughBeaumont]

14. . . . . and this is from a conservative writer . . .

All of the "very serious Conservatives" have to be wondering if sticking steadfastly to the "Tax Cuts Above All" course is worth having their brand destroyed by this incompetent dementia patient.

Of course, when I say "destroyed brand", I'm being somewhat facetious, as the GOP STILL (for some fucked up reason) have an overwhelming amount of voters that share the same brain . . .

[Squinch]

16. His name should never ever be mentioned without also mentioning his Republican party affiliation.

[WinkyDink]

17. I've been saying this for a while. They made him; they own him. They fear 2018.

[deist99]

21. Disagree

The impression I got during the election and after is that the Repub establishment did not want Trump. It seemed clear to me that Jeb was their guy.

However, and this is what scares me most, the Repub voters did want him and continued to want him. And in my area (NE Ohio) I started seeing more and more people supporting him as the Repub field grew smaller. People that I know personally, who I know voted for Obama, jumped on the Trump band wagon.

I mean for fuck sakes he had other primary candidates and Repub establishment politicians openly proclaiming they would not vote for him!!! When has that ever happened before? I would put money on a bet that the bushes voted for Hillary in this election.

I haven't posted on here in awhile because I don't think this site, and the Democratic Party in general, is correctly identifying what caused us to lose this election. I hope I'm wrong but I am afraid we are going to get killed in the 2018 elections and Drump will be relected in 2020.

[Blue_true]

23. Politics change fast.

If Trump keeps working with republicans they lose in 2018 and he in 2020. What concerns me more is someone in the White House, likely Kelly, has convinced Trump that he can likely govern by working with Democrats. I don't know about the Senate in 2018, but I expect Democrats to pick up substantial House seats. If it is Kelly that is pushing Trump to work with Dems and he does, that could get him reelected in 2020 unless we unite and our people show up to vote.

Why would Democrats work with Trump? Unlike republicans, I feel Democrats really want government to work for all Americans, that is why they accept a half loaf instead on insisting on having everything.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. I Think You Missed A Lot

First, while people who ran against him in the primary fell by the way side, most completely supported him in the GE. Even people he directly insulted like Cruz, Fiorina and Rubio. Yeah, Bush and Kasich said "no way", but the majority of the other primary contestants simply pledged allegiance to party.

The conservatives who came out against the candidacy were the "ivory tower" types that write for National Review and those voters you speak of don't like that type anyway. So, their influence was minor, at best.

Thing is, a lot of what you mention as the cause of Obama voters switching sides is exactly what is NOT happening, so they are not getting what they voted for. That's not a sustainable position for the GOP.

Remember, HRC won the most votes, and the margin of popular vote that created that electoral margins was very skinny. It wouldn't take many of those "i got fooled" voters to switch back and then none of what you suggest is close to reality.